Phaselis in the Mithradatic–Pirate Nexus

Year 2025, Volume: 30, 135 - 142, 11.11.2025

Fatma Avcu

https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.1780059

Abstract

This paper reassesses the role of Phaselis in the First Mithradatic War through a newly discovered inscription honouring King Mithradates VI Eupator. Found in what is called today the “South Harbour Trade Centre” and dated to 89-85 BC, the text offers the first epigraphic evidence of Mithradatic presence in the city, confirming its integration into Pontic–pirate alliances active along the eastern Lycian and western Pamphylian coasts. Drawing on literary and epigraphic sources, the study situates Phaselis within the contested maritime frontier where local powers, pirates, and Pontic forces resisted Roman authority. Although the city’s strategic harbours facilitated this co-operation for a while, it was besieged and punished by the Roman counterattack under Servilius Vatia (78-74 BC) and lost its territory for a while.

Keywords

Phaselis , Mithradates VI Eupator , Pamphylia , Lycia , piracy , Rome

Ethical Statement

The excavation and research activities at the ancient city of Phaselis [Project Number CK010712(2025)] were carried out on behalf of Selçuk University by the excavation director, Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Aslan, under the authorisation of Presidential Decree No. 8883 dated 29.08.2024 and excavation permit No. 6184746 dated 06.01.2025 issued by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye.

Project Number

CK010712(2025)

Thanks

I wish to express my profound gratitude to Prof. Dr. Erdoğan Aslan for kindly granting permission, and Prof. Dr. Fatih Onur for his encouragement to pursue the study of this inscription. I am also deeply thankful to Prof. Dr. Denis Rousset for his invaluable comments and insightful suggestions. Furthermore, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the anonymous reviewers of this article for their careful reading and constructive feedback. Finally, I thank T. M. P. Duggan for polishing the English of this article.

Mithradates–Korsan İttifakı Bağlamında Phaselis

Abstract

Makale, Phaselis’in Birinci Mithradates Savaşı’ndaki rolünü, Kral IV. Mithradates Eupator’u onurlandıran ve yeni bulunan bir yazıt parçası üzerinden yeniden değerlendirmektedir. Güney Liman Ticaret Merkezi'nde bulunan ve MÖ 89-85 yıllarına tarihlenen metin, kentteki Mithradates yanlılığına dair ilk epigrafik kanıtı sunmakta ve kentin doğu Likya ve batı Pamfilya kıyılarında faaliyet gösteren Pontus-korsan ittifakına entegrasyonunu doğrulamaktadır. Edebi ve epigrafik kaynaklara dayanan bu çalışma, Phaselis’i yerel güçlerin, korsanların ve Pontus güçlerinin Roma otoritesine direndiği çekişmeli deniz bölgesinin odağında konumlandırmaktadır. Kentin stratejik limanları, bu iş birliğini belli bir süre kolaylaştırmış olmakla birlikte, Roma’nın Servilius Vatia komutasındaki karşı saldırısı (MÖ 78-74) ile kuşatılmış, cezalandırılmış ve topraklarını bir süreliğine kaybetmiştir.
Parça halindeki yazıtın yaklaşık çevirisi şöyledir: [ .... Kral Mithra]dates Eupa[tor Dionoysos]’u .... Menandros’un ... (onurlandırdı).

Keywords

Phaselis , Mithradates VI Eupator , Pamphylia , Likya , korsanlık , Roma

Project Number

CK010712(2025)

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